This application generally relates to vehicle chassis design, and more particularly, relates to structures for providing crash compatibility between automotive vehicles.
Various crash tests conducted by National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) have revealed that vehicle compatibility is an important vehicle attribute affecting occupant safety during frontal and offset crashes. Vehicle compatibility can be defined as the ability of a vehicle to structurally harmonize with another vehicle in a crash event, and relates to vehicle characteristics such as weight, ground clearance, bumper height and shape of the vehicle front end. Accordingly, the front-end structures, for example, front aprons, fender supports, crush horns, etc., of a vehicle are designed for providing a controlled crash response, as well as maintaining integrity of the occupant compartment in the event of frontal and offset crashes.
During the frontal or offset crashes, the front-end structures absorb the crash energy and are crushed to attenuate the crash pulse. Conventionally, various approaches have been adopted to increase the load bearing capacity of the front-end structures for mitigating the crash effect. Common approaches include increasing the thickness of frontal structures or the addition of reinforcement members to these structures for efficient absorption of the crash energy. Although such approaches may provide a method to manage the crash impact, an increased design complexity, weight and cost is often added to the manufacturing of a vehicle.
Therefore, there exists a need for a simple, light weight and cost-effective solution to mitigate the risk in frontal crashes.